6/8/14

(The four photos of flowers in this post - Gloriosa superba, the "fire lily" or "tongues of fire" - are perfect images for today's first scripture reading!)

(On this Sunday at our 11:30 Mass, we offered a special blessing for graduating high school seniors, thus the references in my homily.)

Suppose that what happened on the first Pentecost- happened here this morning.Suppose strong driving winds began to rip through this
churchand then tongues of fire began to settle on peoples’ heads.If that happened – what would you do?I think I’d be scared.I think I might run.I might want to get the heck out of here as fast as I could.I’m not sure I’d have made a good first century disciple of
Jesus.

The image of the Spirit in the first reading today is almost
threatening:driving winds threatening to knock you downand flames threatening to burn you.

That’s the threat,but the Spirit’s coming doesn’t
bring devastation.Rather, the coming of the Spirit:gathers the scattered,unites the many,fills the empty,discloses what’s hidden,reveals the unknown,opens minds,enters hearts,brings understandingand heals what’s broken.

Hurricane winds and open flames – but no one is harmed.And this, because in addition to all the special effects,there’s that one phrase in the scripturethat might seem rather innocuous, but tells us the whole
story:They were all filled with the Holy Spirit…We’re so mesmerized by the exterior audibles and visualsthat we easily miss the interior
movement in the scene:They were all filled with the Holy Spirit…

needs the power of God’s
Spirit in our lives:• to gather what’s scattered in minds and hearts;• to unite what’s splintered in our lives and our
families;• to fill the lonely emptiness our culture can’t
satisfy;• to disclose what’s hidden in the corners of our
souls;• to reveal the truths we need to know and face;• to open minds and hearts walled in by anxiety and fear;• to bring understanding between ourselves and others;• and to heal what keeps us from peace in our own day.

And I can’t help but think of our graduating seniors with us
todaywho are beginning a new chapter in their lives:• when they may find their lives more scattered than ever
before;• when they’ll be splintered from the familiarand making their way in new places with new people;• when a new kind of loneliness might be theirs for the
first time;• when they’ll discover parts of their souls they never knew
before;• when knowing true from false will become even more complicated;• when new unsureties will challenge long held ideas;• and reaching understanding will become a lifelong
taskand the making of peace the purpose of all healing.

Our graduates need, we all need, the gifts of the Spiritand the scriptures tell us that the Spirit’s gifts are
these:peacepatiencekindnessgoodnessgentlenessself-controlwisdomunderstandingcounselfortitudeknowledgeGodly desireand hope…

Is there
anyone among us here this morningwho doesn’t
need all of these gifts, the Spirit’s gifts?Our graduates need, we all need,the Spirit who came in wind
and flame.But the Spirit’s arrival these days is usually much more
subtlethan on the first Pentecost.

• Today, the Spirit comes to us in prayer:how important then to sit, every day, quietly, in God’s
presence,to ask the Spirit’s blessing on all we say and do…

• The Spirit comes to us in whispers…so how important then for us to listen to the wisdom of the
Churchand to the voice of our own conscience,to the voice of God within, leading us to choosewhat’s true, what’s fair, what’s good…

• The Spirit comes to us in the Church…how important then for us to gather, as we have this
morning,to gather with God’s people every weekand, together, to seek the Spirit’s grace and guidancein the scriptures and in the sacraments…

• The Spirit comes to us in all things beautiful and whole
and pure…how important then for us to desire and seek true beauty:in our relationships, in our thoughts, in our leisure, in
our play…

St. Paul reminded us today that each of us has been given a
sharein the Spirit’s gifts to be used for the benefit of others.We are sending out gifted, graduating seniors.We pray this morning that they will take the giftsthat are in their hearts, in their souls and in their livesand bring them to life and share them with others,the new people they meet as they leave home, leave their
parish.

Let’s pray that all of us, and especially our graduates,will discern what the Spirit has given us, and how the
Spirit calls usto use our gifts to serve our neighbors.

In a few moments we’ll pray for the Spirit to come downupon our gifts of bread and wineand to make of them, for us, the Body and Blood of Christ,our Passover, who was sacrificed for us.

May that same Holy Spiritcome down, like a flame of fire,and settle upon each of us and the gifts we’ve been given,so that like bread we might be broken and shared to nourish
othersand like wine, that we might be poured outto fill and heal our neighbor’s hearts.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful peopleand kindle in us, in each of us, the fire of your love.

Are you thinking about becoming a Catholic?

The best place to start is always one of your local Catholic churches. Drop in some Sunday and see what's going on. Then you might speak to the pastor or someone on the parish staff about how they can help you and respond to your questions.